[Diagnosis and treatment of a pulmonary myxoid spindle cell lipoma in a 79-year-old female patient with recurrent retention pneumonia].

Abstract

A 79-year-old female patient presented to our emergency department with a productive cough and shortness of breath that had been present for weeks. Chest CT scan revealed a right upper lobe mass with suspected poststenotic pneumonia and enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. Bronchoscopically there was an exophytic tumor growth with obstruction of the ostium, macroscopically a carcinoid was suspected. Processing of the biopsies taken from the tumor or from the enlarged lymph nodes initially did not provide a diagnosis despite sufficient sample collection. Despite changing the antibiotic, the poststenotic pneumonia persisted. The tumor being inoperable, rigid bronchoscopy was performed to remove the tumor with a cryoprobe and recanalization was achieved. By examining the cryobiopsies, the rare diagnosis of myxoid spindle cell lipoma as a tumor entity was made. The patient recovered from pneumonia.